My Vision

Accepting Wilshere hype, Theo impact & Rosicky runs

The British press today are going Bale (Ape) over Jack Wilshere following another typical Jack Wilshere performance last night but this time it is for his country rather than his club. He has played many better games for us this season but that is the quality of Wilshere. Even not at his very best, he stands out above most.

I was going to frown about the media reaction today and urge caution but there is just no point because it is going to happen regardless. No matter how you dice it, Jack Wilshere is not the ordinary 21 year old. I was talking in a recent blog about players needing to learn the game before they are 23 years of age, those rules apply to ordinary players, certain players just have a gift for the game, some players make it look so easy and Jack Wilshere really looks like one of those players. He plays games in his stride, his will to win matches compliments his ability so well.

I haven't been able to hide my excitement about Jack's ability since watching him for the youth team at 16. Some players have that something different about them and it was there for all to see. He has been playing against older age groups and has been hyped up ever since he was a young teenager so in many respects, this hype is not new to him.

Going by his attitude on the pitch, hype and pressure doesn't seem to bother him very much. He is not the shy reserved type on the pitch, neither is he the show boating believing the hype type, those players seem to get quickly farmed out to obscure Russian teams before they can say 'I'm buzzing' so I am not so sure that he is the type to let hype get in the way of his game.

What is quite incredible about Jack Wilshere is his remarkable consistency for a player his age. Remember the post Carling Cup final team in 2010/2011, the team fell apart, we were poor after that and had some shocking performances. The one player who seemed to continue his form was Jack Wilshere. When we lost away to Stoke City during that run, Jack was the only player battling for the team and he was still only a teenager. There were a few games like that and you could tell that he had more than ability.

This is why I didn't think it would take Jack Wilshere long to return to his best, football looks like second nature and he was already making very few errors at a young age, whereas players like Aaron Ramsey, Theo Walcott and others needed a run in the team to iron out their flaws.

The last time I thought Jack Wilshere looked out of his depth was as a 17 year old away to West Ham in the cup just before he went on loan to Bolton. Since his return he has shown how good he is and how good he will become. Labels of world class can and should be put away in a safe place for a later date. As an attacking midfield player he needs to add a greater goal threat and find consistency in his final ball. Only when those elements have been added to his game can we entertain the idea of being amongst the best in the world. But at 21 I would be hugely surprised if he didn't improve on those key areas in the next 2-3 seasons.

The idea that Stuart Pearce wants Wilshere for the under 21s is actually beyond laughable, it really is. But I have faith that Roy Hodgson has common sense and surely if Arsene Wenger doesn't have the power to stop it then the England manager does. Well that is the hope. There is no reason for me to explain the reason as to why Wilshere should not be called up, it is obvious to anyone apart from Pearce and I guess perhaps Tottenham supporters.

Going back to last night's England match and I was pleased for Theo Walcott and his second half display. I was intrigued to know if he could take his Arsenal form across to the International stage and after a relatively slow start, I think he did just that. He played his part in the winning goal and attacked his full back continuously. You get the feeling that sometimes Theo needs to believe in himself a little more when playing with Rooney, Gerrard and co. He will gain respect by putting in good performances, last night was a good start.

In other news, Tomas Rosicky had to go off due to a bout of the runs. I guess trying to spray passes whilst trying to prevent nature from spraying your pants is a difficult task, especially considering that we men have apparent issues in multi tasking.

Laurent Koscielny is the one casualty of the evening. He had to be taken off at half time with a calf problem. Ramsey has a similar issue before the Welsh game but isn't very serious or so I read on Twitter. Both could miss the big games with Bayern who lets hope that we do not gain anymore injuries before then. *gulp*

So let me stop reminiscing of days gone by and let me focus on our Welsh wonder. Let me start off by saying that I think it is quite obvious that Aaron Ramsey is better in central midfield. His partnership with Mesut Özil, his running from deep and his underrated ball winning ability makes him a ...Read more